Natural Resources Planner III

State of Maryland•Anne Arundel, MD

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), is recruiting a Natural Resources Planner III to serve as a Conservation Easement Planner. MET holds more than 1,300 conservation easements protecting over 140,000 acres of significant environmental, scenic, agricultural, historic, and cultural land in Maryland. The position actively conserves land by conducting landowner outreach and soliciting, negotiating, drafting, and completing conservation easement acquisitions and amendments. The planner conducts conservation planning, evaluates land conservation attributes, prepares baseline documentation, and works with landowners and conservation partners. The position may serve one or more regions of Maryland and represents MET regionally and statewide. Fieldwork may expose the employee to hot and cold weather, rain, snow, biting insects, poison ivy, and sun exposure.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in environmental science or natural resources planning, management, or development, and three years of experience in natural resources planning or applied environmental science.
A valid Maryland motor vehicle operator’s license is required if assigned duties that involve operating a motor vehicle.
Candidates may substitute a bachelor’s degree in urban or regional planning, engineering, physical geography, or the physical, chemical, or biological sciences, plus one year of experience in natural resources planning or applied environmental science, for the required education.
Candidates may substitute a qualifying master’s degree in a listed related field for up to three years of the required experience.
Qualifying U.S. Armed Forces commissioned-officer experience in the specified natural resources management and biological sciences classifications or specialty codes may substitute year for year for the required experience and education.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with landowners to permanently conserve real property.
Experience conducting outreach to landowners to interest them in conserving their property.
Experience writing, drafting, and negotiating permanent land conservation easements.
Experience conducting real property records research, including deed, mortgage, plat, or title research.
Knowledge of federal or state land preservation tax benefits or other land acquisition and conservation programs or tools.
Proficiency with land records databases such as MDLANDREC, FINDER, SDAT Real Property Database, PLATS.NET, or similar resources for research, management, and presentation.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, and Adobe.
Six months to one year of experience with Geographic Information System applications such as ArcGIS.
One to two years of experience with natural resource or land conservation project management.

Responsibilities

Proactively solicit donations of conservation easements from Maryland landowners through outreach and engagement.
Negotiate, draft, and complete conservation easement agreements, acquisitions, and amendments.
Conduct conservation planning and assess or evaluate the conservation attributes of land.
Prepare baseline documentation for conservation easements.
Correspond and work with landowners, local land trusts, conservation nonprofits, county staff, the Office of the Attorney General, and other state agency staff to complete easement acquisitions.
Provide stewardship services to landowners in the assigned region.
Monitor conservation easements for compliance with their terms.
Represent MET through presentations at conferences, seminars, and meetings.
Collaborate with the Department of Natural Resources and other state land conservation and planning agencies to advance Maryland land conservation goals.
Collaborate with state land conservation programs, including Rural Legacy, Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, Forest Legacy, and Program Open Space.